Even with tax increase, Greene County Jail short-staffed

Dec. 1, 2013

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Greene County Corrections Officer Chris Allen watches inmates as he works inside the Greene County Jail. A high rate of turnover at the facility can lead to uncomfortable conditions. / Nathan Papes/News-Leader

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Greene County Corrections Officer Chris Allen was relieved last spring when voters approved a $5 million sales tax increase.

He and his wife called it “a ray of sunshine.”

The couple’s son was just a baby then and Allen’s job required him to be locked up alone in a room with more than 100 criminal offenders.

The sales tax was going to pay for 40 additional jailers — enough staff for someone to watch Allen’s back during his 12-hour shift.

“Little did we know, we couldn’t hire enough people if we tried,” Allen said.

Although Greene County Jail officials have brought on 49 employees since ramping up hiring in January, they’ve also lost 45 during the same time frame.

The high rate of turnover means significantly increasing jail staff — as promised by the sales tax — has been impossible.

Meanwhile, the population of inmates in the jail has hit record high numbers in recent months. Jailers are in the same dangerous predicament, or worse, as before the tax was approved.

Jail officials say no single factor is causing folks to leave the jail at such a high rate, but some reasons are mentioned more than others.

• The U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, known as “the Fed Med,” is eager to hire jail workers who have already gained experience in Greene County. Jail Operations supervisor Capt. Jeff Coonrod described the county jail as an unofficial “training ground” for the better-paying federal gig.

• The jail can be a helpful steppingstone for someone hoping to begin a career in law enforcement. Coonrod said that 25 of the 44 who left the jail since January took better paying jobs in police departments in Springfield, St. Louis, Ozark, Republic, Miller and elsewhere.

• Some jailers were transferred to the patrol division at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. The law enforcement sales tax had also funded 18 new patrol deputy positions, which officials have had less difficulty filling.

• Some departing employees have revealed to jail officials that they were concerned about the county’s financial future — and therefore, their own.

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As for why more people aren’t applying for the jailer positions, Allen has one explanation.

“It’s just one of those jobs,” he said.

“People aren’t going to knock the door down to be a (corrections) officer.”

Even Allen, who has enjoyed being a jailer for more than six years, said he has struggled to recruit friends and family to a jail job.

Salaries start at $25,875. County leaders are discussing layoffs and other cost-cutting measures after voters last month refused to OK a use tax. On the days he works, Allen sees his son for about 10 minutes. And, although it is rare, the threat of violence is ever-present.

“It’s really tough to try to talk people into coming here,” Allen said.

But for him, the work is gratifying.

“It’s a difficult job. That’s why I’m proud to do it,” said Allen, who is working toward a bachelor’s degree in his spare time.

“People come in here off the streets drunk, high, dangerous. And we, as a team, take all of these dangerous people and safely control them.”

The work is essential to keeping the community safe, said Allen.

He also noted the safety net created by the jail for those who are homeless or suffering from mental illness.

Allen said his salary was low but “enough to make a living” — after three years of good reviews, jailers can see as many as two promotions and make $30,202.

But, more than anything, Allen said he appreciated the camaraderie among those who work in the jail.

“Brotherhood” was the term he used once during a News-Leader interview, but he worried it sounded too gushy.

Instead, he simply said Greene County corrections officers are, for the most part, great people.

Sgt. George Hunt works in the segregation wing of the jail — the area where inmates give jailers the hardest time.

On a recent day in late November, Hunt introduced himself to a visiting News-Leader reporter.

With a smile, Hunt offered to put the reporter in a cell for “a more realistic” tour of the facility.

This reporter politely declined and asked Hunt why he thought the jail was incurring so much turnover.

Hunt said many young men have used the jail as a steppingstone to advance their law enforcement careers.

But Hunt, 50, has been at the jail for the past 13 years, after leaving a better paying job in a maximum security wing of a Missouri prison.

“Well, your career is headed the wrong direction,” the reporter joked.

“Why leave a state job for the Greene County Jail?”

In the supermax prison, Hunt said, everyone is sentenced to life. They have already made the decision that ruined their lives, he said.

In the jail, there might still be time to set somebody straight. Maybe Hunt can plant the seed.

“That’s my goal — to keep people from coming back in here,” he said, adding ruefully: